The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1887-01-27
THE YANKEE BALLOON.
AN ATTEMPT TO DESTROY THE ONE
USED AT YORKTOWN.

Shooting at the Balloon with Long Range
Rifes-Light Artillery, Shot and Shell
Gen. Fitz John Porter's Trfp-An At
tempt.
A matter which greatly exercised the
Confederates during the early part Of the
war was the use Of balloons by the Fed
erals to spy at our position. At York
town, where almost daily ascensions were
made, our camps, batteries, field works
and all defepses were plain to the vision
Of the occupants of the balloon, and it
was also quite easy to form reliable esti
mate Of our numbers.
These balloon ascensions excited US
more than all the outpost attacks, and it
was officially determined to put a
stop to them at whatever cost. The
longest range rifles in the south were sent
for, and they were put into the hands
Of Confederates noted for their marks
manship, but although the balloon
seemed to be within easy range, it was too
far away for any rifle to do execution from
our outposts. Light artillery was then
brought into play, using both shot and
shell, but somehow the target could not
be struck. We finally opened upon it
with any and every piece of ordnance
which could be brought to bear, but while
we threw shot far beyond it, and appar-
emily close to it, we could not even
brighten the men in the basket. Between
our outpOsts and those of the Federal was
half a mile of neutral territory. One
dark night thirty-fiY6 Confederate sharp
shooters, each armed with the heaviest
rifle known to our southern hunters, were
sent out to creep as far across the neutral
ground as possible, find hiding places, and
rn n fha h1 HON TI1nPninCp The
result was disastrous to us. Ten of the
men were captured before the balloon as
cended, and the rest of us had hardly
opened fire when heavy force hunted US
out and killed or captured all but six.
Rewards were then offered for the des-
truction of the balloon in the
Federal camp, and l was one
of five who undertook the task.
was promised 1000 in gold and
commission as second lieutenant if [ sue
ceeded, and presume the same promise
was made to the Others We left separ-
ately and By different routes, each one be-
ing told to make arrangements to suit
himself. l was nearly thirty-siX hours
getting in the rear of the Federal army,
and when | entered the camps it was as a
peddler of tobacco and notions, who would
have been in the ranks, but for his lame
ness.
FITZ JOHN PORTERS TRIP.
1t was nearly a week after l left the
Confederate camp before l reached the vi
cinity where Lowe made his ascensiOns,
and it was then to discover that the great
est precautions were taken to guard
against what l had been sent to effect.
Sentinels were stationed about the place
in such number that it was useless to
hope that l might pass them, and what
made the matter worse was the fact that
two of our spies had been captured and
held on suspicion. Nothing but fire would
answer our purpose. Rents could be
mended and holes patched, and while it
was likely that balloon could be made
in a couple of weeks, the interval would
permit the COnfederates to make many
changes.
On the day that Fitz John Porter made
his ascension and the rope broke and
let the balloon float away, 1 was within
rifle shot of the ascension. AS he foated
away over cur camp it seemed as if acct
dent had sealed the fate of the balloon
and given us a distinguished prisoner,
but a change of wind occurred and back
came the air ship to drop to the ground
almost at my feet. [ was one of
the fifteen or twenty men who seized the
basket and held it to the earth while POr-
ter stepped out. l had matches, and |
nau only TO SGrlke 1lSnC 10 uSSGTOy JnS
balloon at flash. | meant to take every
risk, but. as l drew match from my
pocket, having a filled pipe already in my
mouth as an excuse, a big sergeant who
stood beside me seized me by the neck,
and shouted at me:
"You Internal idiot. but do you want to
fire the balloon?"
did. but he had deprived me of the op-
portunity. Some of the men laughed.
Some said l ought to he kicked out of
camp, and prudence whispered to me to
take myself off while I had the chance.
Only two of US out of the five got back to
our regiments. What became of the
others was mystery we were never able
to clear up. Other plans to destroy the
balloon were projected, but it made only
two or three more ascension. The trouble
of initiating and caring for it, added to the
peril of those who assembled induced the
military authorities to abandon the enter
Confederate" in Detroit Free